Immigration Matters
by Charles Kelly
Immigration Adviser &
Co-Author of the book
HOW 2 Come to the UK
to
live, work, study or visit
Welcome to Immigration Matters
September 2005. In this month’s edition:
- NEW OVERSEAS
NURSES PROGRAMME – AS 37,000 FIGHT FOR PLACES, WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
- HOME OFFICE
UPDATE – “NOBODY HAS A RIGHT TO COME HERE TO WORK” TONY MCNULTY, HOME
OFFICE MINISTER
OVERSEAS NURSES PROGRAMME – ALTERNATIVE ROUTES
From 1 September 2005, overseas (non EEA members) trained
nurses seeking UK
registration, will have to go through the new Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP).
The program has common entry standards, a compulsory 20-day period of protected
learning for all nurses trained outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and,
where appropriate, a period of supervised practice. In addition applicants will
also have to undertake the English language test (IELTS) and achieve an overall
mark of 6.5.
With the system tightening up,
many nursing homes currently providing “adaptation training” for overseas nurses
have decided to drop out of the programme. This is not encouraging news for the
estimated 37000 nurses in the UK
seeking a place, as well as the thousands of hopeful applicants who hand over
their £140 application fee to the NMC each year. So what are the alternative
routes into the UK?
As I mention in our book “How to Come to The UK to Live Work Study or Visit”,
there are many roads leading to the same destination.
THE SENIOR
CARER ROUTE
The most obvious route for nurses
unable to find a place for adaptation training or supervised practice has been
to come to the UK
to work as a Senior Carer in a Nursing Home. The advantages are that you are
not restricted by the need to find a Nursing Home accredited by the NMC to run
supervised placements (which are in short supply) and you can usually find
employment in the UK
much faster. Many nurses have been prepared to
accept the lower paid Senior Carer role (Senior Carers earn around £5.75 per
hour compared to a qualified nurse making at least £9.00 per hour), as they saw
it as a stepping stone into nursing. Once in the UK
they are better placed to seek out Nursing Homes or Hospitals offering training
places and thousands of Filipino nurses have
successfully made the transition.
For instance Celerina
came to the UK
from Saudi Arabia
in 2003 to work as a Senior Carer in a Nursing Home with the help of Bison
Management UK. “The work was hard and the pay not so good” she recalls
“but I learned a lot and stuck with it”.
Bison Management assisted the Nursing Home with their NMC accreditation and was
then able to put her through the adaptation training. She now has
her NMC PIN and her salary and job satisfaction has doubled.
Bison is currently helping her apply for her Husband join her as a dependant. Celerina is so glad she took her chances and came in to the
UK as a Senior
Carer. “If I hadn’t applied to Bison UK as a Senior Care Worker I’d still be in
Saudi on my own. Now I am happy here and my Husband can join me”.
There are of course some
disadvantages to trying to come in as a Senior Carer, e.g. lower pay, and not
everyone will have the appropriate experience required to obtain a work permit
from the Home Office. As Senior Carers are not on the “shortage occupation”
list work permits are actually harder to obtain. The employer must demonstrate
that a suitable qualified worker from within the EU cannot be found to fill the
vacancy. Furthermore, although a nurse may be in many respects over qualified
for the job, they still have to prove that they possess the necessary skills
and experience to do the job of a Senior Carer.
Since the expansion of the EU in
2004 employers have been able to employ care
workers from the new EU members such as Poland
and Lithuania
without the need to apply for a work permit. Figures published recently showed
that between May 2004 and June 30 this year there were 232,000 applicants for
work under the special Workers Registration Scheme with over 130000 coming from
Poland alone.
Most of the workers have gone into catering
jobs (hence the ending of the SBS Hospitality scheme in July – see Immigration
Matters article in MIZMO August 2005) but over 5500 have taken jobs as Care
Assistants. Good news for employers perhaps, but no so good for applicants from
The Philippines, China
or India.
THE STUDENT
ROUTE
Thousands of nurses, fed up with waiting
for an adaptation place, are now choosing to come to the UK
as a student and study for an NVQ4 qualification and Registered Managers Award
(RMA). These management qualifications can lead to employment as a Registered
Manager in the care industry, which usually attracts a higher salary than a
nurse.
The NVQ (National Vocational
Qualification) and RMA courses offer a combination of theoretical and practical
learning, which includes vocational work carried out in a nursing or care home
setting. You will need a work placement so you can be assessed during the
course.
A number of nurses
have approached Overseas Consultancy Services (OCS) to
arrange student visas for NVQ and other courses. OCS will shortly be announcing
a “Student Programme” pilot scheme to be run in conjunction with a number of
colleges in the London area. As
well as arranging the course enrolment and student visa OCS will also organise
work placements through their extensive network of nursing home clients. For
further details contact OCS or check their website
www.overseasconsultancy.com
HOME OFFICE UPDATE - MAKING MIGRATION WORK FOR BRITAIN
Charles Kelly with Tony McNulty, Immigration Minister
At a Home Office briefing for
Immigration Advisers and leading employers in London
this week Tony McNulty, Minister for Immigration Citizenship and Nationality
called for a “grown up debate” on immigration and a “balanced migration
policy”. He went on to outline the aims of the government’s review
(announced 19th July 2005),
which are to provide “clarity and transparency” and stress that they are part
of a “public consultation” and not set in stone.
Representatives from the TUC and
CBI joined the Minister on the platform to announce an historic joint statement
on immigration. In a statement from the Home Office, the government said the UK
needed the skills and enthusiasm of people from around the world "now more
than ever".
In a heated question and answer
session several members of the audience voiced their concerns over the
government’s proposals including plans to remove the right of appeal against
visa refusals, Tony McNulty said that he was “very comfortable with no right of appeal as nobody has the absolute
right to come to this country to work or study”.
Immigration Matters View
The proposed new rules are
designed to encourage higher skilled migrants such as Doctors, and Science
graduates, but discourage workers from outside the EU not deemed to be “highly
skilled” for instance Senior Carers seeking work in the care sector or Chefs
and Waiters in the catering industry.
Whilst every country in the world
wants to attract the top talent and graduates, we must not forget that
employers in industries such as the care sector are still finding it difficult
to attract and retain workers willing do the ordinary but equally important
jobs like caring for the elderly.
Our advice to employers and applicants is simple. Anyone wishing to employ
a Senior Carer from outside the EU or extend the work permit of an existing
worker should apply as soon as possible. Cynthia Barker of Bison Management UK, a leading provider of staff
to the healthcare industry, was also present at the meeting and voiced
concerns. She said: “an employer could
find themselves in the unfortunate situation where, due to changes in the
rules, they can no longer employ a
Senior Carer who has worked with them for two or three years, which
would be devastating news for the employer but especially the worker who may
have to leave the UK” .
Certain categories of lower
skilled migrants may also find it difficult to obtain indefinite leave to
remain (permanent residency) after working in the UK
for four years or more and we would urge anyone who may fall into this group to
“buy now while stocks last”. The details of the proposed new points based
scheme and overhaul of the work permits system were covered in the August
edition of MIZMO and will be published on www.overseasconsultancy.com
Have your say…
This is only a consultation document and we still have time to make our
views
heard
by the government. We urge you to respond to the consultation document, which
comes in the form of a booklet with a comments section at the back. If you
have views on the subject now is the time to make them count, as there will be
no use complaining after the event. The full document is
available on www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
You can also write to your local MP or Tony McNulty at the Home Office.
Alternatively, you can email your views to OCS which will be passed on to the
Minister. Email comments to: info@overseasconsultancy.com
If you
should have any questions concerning the above please send an email to ckelly@recruitnurse.com, visit www.overseasconsultancy.com or call 0870 041 4658.
HOW 2 COME TO
THE UK
to Live Work Study or Visit by Charles Kelly & Cynthia Barker2005 ISBN 0-9546338-3-0.
Available
from www.overseasconsultancy.com